Der Blogger

"Enough is enough!" "This can't go on!" "This has to stop!" These were among the comments that came through the blizzard of commentary after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County. We have heard these words before.

Wanderlust

As a travel destination, Germany has never been more popular. With tourist numbers forecast to rise for an eighth consecutive year, what is the country doing right to account for its thriving visitor numbers?

Akademia

For education experts, English language lessons have proven valuable in primary schools in North Rhine-Westphalia. But the Alternative for Germany’s state parliamentary group in NRW have a rather different view.

Essen & Trinken

Police in the city of Osnabrück had to clear crowds in front of a new döner kebab shop on Tuesday, after about 150 hungry people packed the street outside, eager to get their hands on a döner for only €0.01.

Germericana

Many Americans have German ancestors — and that's also the case for actress Meghan Markle, who will be marrying Prince Harry, himself a descendant of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a German dynasty.

German army ordered to remove WW2-era names

Having come in for criticism herself after accusing the Bundeswehr armed forces of “weak leadership” amid a national debate over whether there are right-wing extremists in the military, Ursula von der Leyen told Bild am Sonntag newspaper the barracks should no longer be named after Nazi-era officers.

“The Bundeswehr has to send signals both internally and externally that it is not rooted in the tradition of the Wehrmacht,” she said, referring to the World War Two-era name for the German army. The Bundeswehr was created in 1955.

“It needs to confidently put more of an emphasis on its own 60-year history. Why not rename those barracks? In light of the recent developments, it’s time for a new discussion on that.”

The Bundeswehr removed the names of many Wehrmacht soldiers, who were seen by and large as honorable soldiers not tied to any war crimes, during reform carried out in the 1980s and 1990s. Yet about a half dozen barracks remain named after Nazi-era figures, the most prominent of which is General Erwin Rommel, who killed himself in 1944 after a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

“We’ve got to tackle the issue of renaming barracks,” von der Leyen said, adding that such a move should be undertaken as part of efforts to modernize the armed forces.

In a related move, the Bundeswehr academy in Hamburg recently removed from a student dormitory a portrait of former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt pictured) wearing a Wehrmacht uniform. Schmidt, who died in 2015 at the age of 96, served in a tank division on both the eastern and western fronts.

“It’s absurd and outrageous — as if Schmidt had something to do with the incidents of right-wing extremism,” said Johannes Kahrs, a member of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) that share power with von der Leyen’s conservatives.

Von der Leyen has vowed to crack down on hard-right views after criticizing a failure to address racism, bullying and sexual abuse.

The defense ministry said on Friday that it had suspended an officer for making far-right comments amid a widening scandal over fears of hardline racist views among soldiers. The officer had been heard making allegations about the existence of a far-right group inside the military

Last week the head of the armed forces called for an inspection of all army barracks after investigators discovered Nazi-era military memorabilia in a garrison.

Kultur

The German term "Heimat," often translated as "homeland," was long thought of as tacky, regressive, and even politically dubious. But since the election, German politicians across the spectrum are using it once again.

Das Kino

This month's Berlin film festival, Europe's first major cinema showcase in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein revelations, will shine a light on sexual misconduct in the industry, its director said on Tuesday.

Gesundheit

In the run-up to international World Cancer Day on Sunday, experts have said that about half of all cancer cases in Germany could be prevented by a healthier lifestyle. Across the country, around 500,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year. But experts say things like exercise could cut this figure in half. “Movement can […]